Acrobat DC JavaScript external editor on Macs

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
September 10, 2020
3 replies
1952 views

I would love to get a response to this post from someone at Adobe. I have posted about this more than once, the last time probably more than two years ago. Q: Why doesn't Adobe fix the inability to connect an external editor to Acrobat DC (and I believe several prior versions of Acrobat). When using any external editor in Acrobat, Acrobat freezes like a stone, requiring a forced quit.

Yes, I know that you can copy and paste script from the internal editor to the external editor, work on it and copy and paste it back to Acrobat, but that is not responsive to Adobe's failure to fix this. When you spend hours writing script, the cumulative effect of cutting and pasting repeatedly is a ridiculous annoyance. After years of Adobe not fixing this problem I reiterate what I said the last time: Adobe's failure to fix this is disrespectful of its customers. And for those who might say it is an Apple problem, not Adobe's, I say Adobe has an obligation to work with Apple to fix it, or explain why it cannot. It is disingenuous to blame it on Apple.

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Jan Kees5E0B

Participant

I experienced the same problems. Older versions of Acrobat didn't have this problem of freezing.I have tried numerous versions of Acrobat, in combination with several different external editors. I found out that the most recent version of Acrobat that can still interact with an external editor is Adobe Acrobat DC 19.012.20034. All newer versions freeze after having quit the external editor.

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Al5ECE

Participant

I came across this post after researching solutions for the same problem. When editing the JavaScript code on an Adobe PDF form, it does not matter which external editor is used. The problem is neither with Adobe nor with the editor; the problem lies with macOS. By default, when we close a window on a Mac, the operating system does not quit the application, which is the key problem. Acrobat waits for the editor to quit, and since that does not happen, Acrobat hangs up. The solution is straightforward: save the changes on the external editor and quit it, not close it. Then, the control is sent back to Acrobat, and everything is in order.

Joel Geraci

Community Expert

The problem is neither with Adobe or Apple but with the external editor. Some editors will release a file when you save, others will keep a file handle open and you need to close the file before it is released and still others will need to quit the editor before it releases the file. Acrobat can't import the file until the editor releases it. I haven't found a single editor that works the way I need it to as an external editor.

try67

Community Expert

I think this is on purpose. If the editor releases the file-handle and then another script edits that code (which is possible), then that editor will show the incorrect script the next time you open it. So either the file has be closed entirely, and then re-opened when you want to edit it again, or the application has to prevent you from interacting with it while the script is being edited.

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ODuinnAuthor

Inspiring

If that is the case, then why don't you encounter the same probem in Windows?

try67

Community Expert

Do you mean it freezes while the external editor is used to edit a script? Because that's the same with Windows, because it's a modal operation (meaning the application can't be used while the dialog, or external window, is open). Or does it crash or freeze after closing the editor window?

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ODuinnAuthor

Inspiring

No, that is not what I'm addressing. I mean that when you quit the external editor Acobat is locked up ("Not responsive" is Apple's terminology), i.e. spinny spinerton, the endless spinning color wheel, no matter how long you wait, and you must force quit Acrobat. Regardless of whether you "Save" the script while in the external editor or just close the external editor when done editing, Acrobat is frozen solid, and after you force quit, when you switch back to the internal editor and view the script you tried to edit, none of your script changs have been saved in Acrobat.

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